“First, the One Hundred Thousand Mountains of Nanjiang boasts an incredibly complex terrain with tall mountains, thick forests, and, as you may have inferred from the name, a hundred thousand mountains. It makes for a great place to hide.”
Feng Qingyou explained, “Second, there is a divine spring deep within the mountains called the Sky Mending Spring. The Sky Mending Spring boasts the ability to repair one’s physical flaws, improve one’s natural talent, and most importantly, swiftly recover one’s mind.”
“Your mind is damaged quite severely. Assuming no opportunities, it would take you a fairly long time to fully recover. The Sky Mending Spring would shave away much of that time.”
“The Sky Mending Spring? Something like that exists?”
Ye Qing’s eyes lit up immediately. He was just worrying how he could speed up his mental recovery until Feng Qingyou showed him the way. “Alright then. Let’s head to Nanjiang. When should we depart?”
“The sooner, the better,” Feng Qingyou replied. “Let’s leave after we finish our meal.”
“Why not?” Ye Qing nodded. After they finished their meal, they immediately left North Duke City.
Next to Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou’s room, a man in his thirties set down his wine up and produced a clay doll from his shirt.
The clay doll was white, plump, and charmingly naive. It looked very festive.
Still holding the clay doll, the man held his arms straight in front of him and arranged his facial features into a respectful expression. “Hallmaster, they just left North Duke City and are moving south.”
“They didn’t notice you, did they?” The voice asked.
“No. I’ve been very cautious. I am certain they did not discover me,” the man answered.
“Very good. I will mark this as a merit under your score. When this matter is over, I promise to reward you accordingly,” the clay doll replied.
“Thank you, hallmaster,” the man said jubilantly.
“Now then, return and meet up with us,” the clay doll ordered.
The man saluted the clay doll and put it away. Then, he left the Wave Watching Pavilion.
“Huh? I saw them right here just a moment ago. How did they disappear all of a sudden?”
At the sea, five men were hovering above the sea surface and exchanging confused glances with each other.
“The Earthly Sovereign Bell’s aura is gone as well.”
A forty-year-old, dignified-looking man with traditional features at the center of the group frowned. “It looks like they’ve discovered us.”
“What should we do now, hallmaster?” One man requested instructions.
“Search the area. They must be nearby,” the dignified-looking man ordered. “They must not escape.”
The four warriors saluted him. They were just about to spread out and search the area when suddenly, a group of warriors riding boats or Strange Artifacts or flying via a secret art emerged from the horizon. They looked hostile.
“There’s no mistake! It’s them!”
“They’re the bastards who killed Master Six!”
“Get them! Kill them and take revenge for Master Six!”
The next moment, the angry warriors rushed toward the group and attacked them.
“Who are you people? Why—”
The dignified-looking man immediately unleashed his aura. He was hoping to stop them in their tracks and question them about their motive.
“Why your mother’s ass! Just die!”
Before he could even finish, a man roared and pounced toward him like a madman.
Disgust flashed in the dignified-looking man’s eyes. He flicked his fingers and popped the attacker’s head like an overripe melon, spilling blood and brain matter.
His four subordinates obeyed and attacked the remaining warriors with viciousness as well.
Although the group of warriors numbered at least dozens of people—some of them were even Half-Step Truemen—they were like ants trying to put down not one, not two, but four ferocious tigers. It was a massacre.
Not even a minute had passed before the group of warriors screaming that they would take revenge for a so-called Master Six were routed. It wasn’t just because of the disparity between their cultivation level, but also because the four men weren’t holding back at all. Every time they unleashed an attack, someone would die or become crippled.
In just a dozen or so breaths, every single attacker had been slain.
The dignified-looking man remarked with a scornful expression when all was said and done.
“How dare you kill the members of the North Duke Office! You are courting death!”
It was at this moment an angry shout boomed from the sky.
The shout was overflowing with gravitas. As if it commanded nature itself, a deadly gale powerful enough to kick up a titanic tidal wave rolled straight toward them. It looked imposing to say the least.
“The North Duke Office?”
The dignified-looking man lifted an eyebrow and stepped forward. His hand spread open, he pushed forward as if he was attempting to crush the sky.
“Profound Yellow One Qi Divine Palm”
The “Profound Yellow One Qi Divine Palm” was as vast as the sky and as heavy as the earth. It met the titanic wave head on.
The palm crushed the titanic blue waves like nothing and continued forward. It crushed the gale and quelled the stirring sea like the hand of a divine being.
Once again, the four men looked to the dignified-looking man for instructions.
“Dammit. He played us. He must have discovered our presence long ago.”
The dignified-looking man growled with a stormy face and murderous eyes. “Let’s go!”
He turned around and dashed toward the horizon. His four subordinates followed closely behind him. They were gone in just the blink of an eye.
Not long after the five men were gone, six people appeared at the location they just left. The leader of the group was none other than Ding Buren.
“Should we chase them, Minister Ding?” One man asked.
“Of course. Whoever they are, they just slaughtered our men in our territory. They mustn’t be allowed to escape,” Ding Buren replied.
“But the Duke commanded us to guard the sect and lie low for the moment.”
Another man voiced his worries, “These people were able to slaughter dozens of our elites in just a short time. They must be quite powerful. Isn’t it dangerous to chase them without additional reinforcements at least?”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? They just slaughtered our men right in the heart of our territory! If we leave them alone, and word of their deeds spreads, what do you think is going to happen to our reputation?”
Ding Buren replied, “Our reputation is already flagging due to our previous failure. If we cannot even handle something , then the North Duke Office would become the laughingstock of the entire jianghu and wulin!”
“That is why we must hunt them down. Not only that, we must kill them all!”
Ding Buren swept his gaze across the group and commanded in an icy voice, “This is my order. Mobilize everyone in the sect and capture these five bastards in the shortest time possible, dead or alive!”
“As you command!” His men saluted him and took their leave.
After they were gone, a strange smile slowly spread across Ding Buren’s face.
“Strange. What’s taking the Hallmaster and the others so long?”
On an island, the man spying on Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou in the Wave Watching Pavilion earlier mumbled to himself while scanning the horizon. “Did something go wrong?”
“It can’t be. The hallmaster is present. There’s no way those two could escape from his clutches.”
The man’s name was Yue Wanjun, and he was the disciple of the Ninth Earthly Sovereign Hall. A few months ago, the Earthly Sovereign Hall had detected the reappearance of the Earthly Sovereign Bell and immediately dispatched seekers to retrieve it. The hallmaster of the Ninth Earthly Sovereign Hall was one of them.
There were nine halls in the Earthly Sovereign Hall. Each hall had their own area of responsibility, though the First Hall ruled above all of them. Every hallmaster was at least a Half-Sage.
Although the hallmaster of the Ninth Hall, Yue Songhe, wasn’t the strongest warrior of the nine halls, he was definitely the youngest. He was already a Half-Sage in his fifties, and he was expected to become a Sage one day.
The fact that the Earthly Sovereign Hall went so far as to dispatch Yue Songhe showed just how determined they were to retrieve the Earthly Sovereign Bell.